Just you and me, Bondita

The Tearing Heart

Bondita and Tapur were lightheartedly chatting amongst themselves when they noticed Vashma ghostly staring at a photograph.

It seemed like she was mentally not present at that moment, despite sitting right next to them.

"Vashma..." Bondita softly called as she tapped her shoulders, "Are you okay?"

The young girl blinked a few times in consciousness and looked around at the concerned faces as she took in some deep exhalations.

She then wearily stood up from the ground and passed the last photograph to the girls in silence.

Tapur received it and the duo took a few moments to analyse the portrait. As soon as they saw Batuk in it, they both cheekily grinned and were about to coo to tease Vashma.

However, before they even had the chance to do that, Vashma had already left the room in a dazed state without saying a single word.

Bondita and Tapur saw a glimpse of her back as she exited from the doorway and they both stared back at each other in confusion, wondering what may have caused her sudden departure.

Meanwhile Vashma went straight to the kitchen to fill up the empty jug.

Her pupils were widely dilated from the darkness of the haveli and she walked around like a zombie. Her hands were shaking feverishly in fear as she filled the jug with the water from the mud pot.

Terrifying thoughts clogged her mind, making her feel even weaker than she was before.

What was she doing? Did she really think she was worthy enough to develop feelings for Batuk? Not only was she committing more sins but she was also trying to bring down the innocent man with her in this mess!

Vashma continued to question herself, whilst absentmindedly making her way down the corridor, when she accidentally barged into Trilochan, who was coincidentally walking down in the opposite direction, and ended up spilling some water on him.

At that moment, Vashma shuddered backed into reality and her eyes widened in horror from seeing what she had done, causing her to shake even more.

Trilochan looked down at his wet kurta and furiously gritted his teeth.

"Look at what you have done!!! Are your eyes on your back or something, pagal ladki! You cannot even walk straight, can you?!" he chided in frustration, "Why did you come into our lives and make it a living hell?!"

These harsh words did not help Vashma's somber mood and she now began to feebly sob on the spot, her tears flowing down her face like streams as he continued to scold her.

This incident was taking place right in front of Batuk's room and so the young man hurriedly came out from hearing his Kaka's insults and was utterly shocked to find his wife crying.

"Vashma, what happened?" he enquired cautiously.

Vashma was crying so hard now, especially from seeing her husband, because she felt even more guilty from reminiscing her feelings towards him.

The lump in her throat didn't allow a single sound to escape her mouth and so she continued to silently shed tears.

"Huh! Here comes the drama king!" Kaka scoffed as he looked away in disgust. He couldn't stand watching his nephew drool over this unfit girl.

Batuk then bewilderedly turned to his uncle and examined his state. His face relaxed as soon as he figured out what had just happened but just as he was about to speak up, Kaka interfered with more insults.

"I don't know why I'm wasting my energy scolding her when you're the one to blame here. If you never brought this disgrace into our haveli, we wouldn't be suffering as much as we are today!"